As an admitted fan of Steve Jobs and Apple, I have enjoyed watching the company and using their products. In my blog on Aug 21, I mentioned, and not for the first time, that Apple should consider buying a content company. I suggested the purchase of CBS, Scripps, or Viacom, but wouldn't mind them buying Netflix either. Today's Huffington Post speculates that Apple is indeed interested in producing original content to compete in the streaming space.
In an age of build or buy, I might re-suggest to Apple that their expertise is not content creation. But they have the free cash to buy and purchasing a content company with both a library of content and the talent that goes with it may be the best means to jump start their entry into the content space. I've offered a few suggestions already, but maybe another is in order. I think that Tim Cook, CEO of Apple and John Malone, CEO of Liberty Media might consider some sort of partnership approach. Both bring an expertise from different sides of the media space and both see a global vision to their business strategy. A healthy collaboration of content, distribution, and technology might be the synergy that we need to affect a quantum leap in the media landscape.
Should Apple get into the content business, absolutely! But I propose that buying media companies and building out a partnership with Liberty might be the ultimate one-two punch to compete in the distribution space.
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